Failure
by AllonsyAllonzo
Summary: ..."We'll see about that little brother."Daryl flinched, as he heard the sound of a tire blowing out. slow/eventual DarylOC
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the Walking Dead or anything else you recognize.

* * *

An older woman in a periwinkle frock two seats in front of her, turned back to her and smiled randomly before looking forward. A small child cried, as a  
mother quietly sang her a sweet melody. There were maybe a dozen people making the trip from Florida to Atlanta, bus driver could be heard swearing under his breath, as he relentlessly scratches at his side.

Madison narrows her eyes at the movement, before turning her eyes to the passenger seated next to her, a wrinkled old man with the words _Semper Fi _written across his cap, as well as _Vietnam POW, _and rank. His eyes were also focused on the bus driver, and he held one hand close to his hip. Madison would bet a million he was packing heat - once a Marine…always a Marine. She frowned thoughtfully and thumbed a pair of dog tags hanging around her neck.

"What are you running from, kid?" The old man was now staring her down with grey blue eyes.

"More like Running to, Gunny. I've got some family heading to Atlanta… My dad's pretty sick." she broke eye contact, her dad was sick. But she doubted he was en route to Atlanta at this bus driver coughed loudly, and the bus swerved slightly. Her frown deepened as she scouted how close the two were to emergency exits. She guessed he had already done the same immediately after boarding the vehicle.

"Uhhm,huh. Sure thing, kid." he didn't comment on her awareness of military rank. They both were quiet again. Madison pulled her cell phone out, and stared at the most recent text she had received from her sister.

_Sis, where r u? I'm getting freaked. my dorm. A couple ppl got that virus every1's talking about. Mom said dad is weird too. Hurry. :(_

She simply replied, _I'll be there, _hopped on the first bus out of Pensacola… and hoped she wouldn't get her ass handed to her. Now, 15 miles from her destination, she was getting worried. Her sister had stopped replying to texts, and her mom and dad's phones had been turned off since last night.

Twisting her ankle, she felt calm with the weight of the knife she had tucked away in her boot. A woman with bright red hair turned in her seat at looked at them. "He's just hacking away up there, isn't he?" she pointed a finger towards the driver as he again scratched his side and coughed up what sounded like mucus. "Scratch, scratch, scratching. wouldn't you say?" she was pale, thin, and from the slight shake of her hands… either was stressed out, or strung out.

"Calm down lady." Madison replied simply, noting that several heads turned their way as the woman got louder. The redhead's eyes were bloodshot and incredibly wide,pupils dilated.

"Look, look at this?" she shouted hysterically, pulling up her sleeve. Several puncture wounds were on her arm from some drug or another. Blackened veins were trailing from the injection points. "You think I got it too?" She laughed, and got up walking towards the mother and small child, "You think I got the virus?" She was interrupted from her hysteria, by the bus crashing. Glass shattered, people cut and injured. The woman was laughing, impaled by a rather large piece of glass, through the stomach.

Madison gasped as the woman started pulling her own intestines via the hole in her torso. The bus driver was convulsing on the floor of the bus. People were screaming, the old Marine veteran was half conscious. They were two rows away from the closest emergency exit. But they would half to pass Big Red to get to it. As the bus driver suddenly got back up and grabbed a hold of a small child leaning over him, She threw her bag onto her shoulders, and made a judgement call….

"You did the right thing, kid." The old man said, staring at her wisely from the passenger seat. "When I was in 'Nam I…"

"Don't." she said in a quiet tone cutting him off. Her hands tightly gripped the steering wheel of their stolen Jeep as they neared the her sister's dorm. People were running from their dorms, throwing bags and boxes into cars. She peered in her rearview mirror at the weeping woman in the back seat.

"Stay here, old man."

"Yeah right, you saved my ass. Now I'm the pain in yours." he said gruffly, attempting to get out of the vehicle with her.

"I may have saved your life, but I ruined hers." the woman in the back didn't even look up. "Please, stay with her."


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to anyone who has reviewed, set to alert… Etc. I am so sorry about the wait! I will be updating a longer chapter within the next few days! (I also may be changing the retired Marine's rank to something a bit higher, haven't decided!) I've had a lot going on, and my computer I usually write on is shot to hell….

Anyways, I don't own the Walking dead, or anything you recognize.

* * *

The old man watched as Madison held a rather large knife in her right hand defensively, previously it had been hidden in her boot. Now however, the clip with it's holster was hanging from her belt, for easier access. He couldn't blame her after what had happened.

Others may make the mistake of assuming she was just a regular girl by her small size, and long dark red hair she had in an elaborate french braid. Big brown eyes that at first held a facade of innocence, until they narrowed - calculated. He spent long enough time in the Corps to know a soldier when he saw one. Her stance was set in a way that centered her weight, her head held high and eyes moving around alertly...

Gunny held up his 9 MM and made a showing of checking that it was in fact loaded, and nodded towards her once. He nodded. "Be careful, kid."

Madison said nothing, didn't correct his term kid with her proper name.. or ask for his. _Best to leave that for if they found a safe place to plan their next move. After she hopefully got her sister the heck out of dodge. _She took a deep breath, and took off toward the building students were steadily piling out of.

* * *

He stared at the woman in the back seat, still sobbing. It had only been a few minutes since arriving at the college dorms, but she showed no sign of calming down. "Hey lady, listen… what happened back there…"

Her head snapped towards him, blue eyes rimmed with red. _Blue eyes that reminded him of someone he used to know_.

"What happened back there, is my little boy got bit by some freak… and we left him there…in his own blood…and your friend..." she spat out the word friend vehemently, and suddenly became quiet, _dazed_.

The retired Gunnery Sergeant stared at her, hard. He thought of the way he had been nearly passed out on the bus, waking up to point his gun at the crazed druggy impaled by the glass that had fallen from the windows. The head shot that ceased her crazed speech and play time with her own entrails. How he had pushed the screaming mother out of the emergency exit, while Madison tackled the bus driver to the ground… and put both he and the small boy the driver had attacked out of their misery.

"Ma'am, I lost my daughter many years ago. No parent should lose their child." He reached his free hand, and grasped hers within his own. She looked down at the floor. Retired Gunnery Sergeant Trevor McAdams figured now was a better time than any to be called back to active duty. Even if he was 66 years of age. His bones ached with arthritis, and his gut may not be as toned as when he was overseas…There had only been a few cases in the south before today, and he hadn't thought too much of it. 'Drug addicts on bath salts. Bad Heroin. Etc.' He thought of an old rumor he had heard, of bio terror the Vietcong soldiers had unleashed on their own during the war.

He, patted her head softly like he would a small child, opened his car door and stood tall. "No parent should lose their child..." he whispered, vowing to protect his new charge. Car doors slammed around him, and cars peeled out of the parking lot as the panic of a virus spreading reached more ears.

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Aaaand... end of chapter. Will Madison find her sister? Who exactly is she? Who is this Gunnery Sergent? When are they meeting up with the Atlanta survivors? And hold on... Whispers of a bio terrorism plot back in the days of 'nam?


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to the review, and new alert. It makes me really happy someone is reading =)

In a few chapters we'll be meeting some Atlanta survivors, and learn more about our main characters. Whether or not personal information on these folks is a good thing or not... remains to be seen.

(I don't own the Walking dead, or anything else you may recognize. Please review!)

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A boy around Madison's sister's age nearly plowed into her exiting the tall building at a rather quick pace. "Watch it!" she yelled, and kept moving. The security desk was void of the usual personnel, so she hopped over the counter and typed her sister's name into the computer. She knew her sister had transferred to a new dorm on the same floor as her last one, but she had not visited her since her freshman year - so she wasn't quite sure which one. Rebecca Gordon, 62B.

Her old dorm was still listed, looks like it'll be a room to room search. She still wasn't answering Madison's text messages.

"Damnit!" Madison slammed her fist down, and looked at her cell phone once more. Although people seemed spooked, there was no evidence of the virus in this vicinity just yet.

Taking the elevator would be quicker, since her sister's dorm was on the top floor. She made her way towards it, but paused and looked towards the emergency stair case. She threw open the door, wedging it open with a brick that had been thrown to the side, and took the steps three at a time.

* * *

The elevator doors dinged, and opened. The security guard that had abandoned his post was seated on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him, eyes staring unblinking. His name tag, "Chip," was pinned to the left side of his shirt, as well as a pin that signified he had worked at the university for ten years. What looked like a piece of a violin bow was sticking out from his temple - blood seeping to the floor. There was no signs of bite marks, no signs of struggle. A blond girl raced out, muttering, "I thought he had it…." over and over.

* * *

*~*~*~Flashback two years earlier.

_Rebecca Gordon was proud to be a freshman of Atlanta University - she was even prouder that she had a part time job assisting a Veterinarian clinic close by. Her older sister had used her spare cash to put aside in a savings account for her, since their parents jobs didn't really give them the opportunity to do so._

_She stared in the mirror, and deftly worked her auburn hair into a pristine braid her mother had taught she and her sister when they were kids._

_"I found something that belongs to you!" her bitchy roommate yelled, before slamming her bedroom door shut._

_Rebecca ran out of the bathroom, and threw her hands around her big sister. "Are you getting shorter Mads?" she joked with her sister, despite being 5 years older, Madison was 2 inches shorter, standing at 5'6". "And you still have no boobs." She puffed out her own double D's and mocked Madison's B cup._

_"Yeah, yeah. Whatever - you're a real lady and all." They both broke out in obnoxious laughter, that sounded a bit more like a hyena, rather than two good looking young girls. In the real world, they might had tried to stifle their laughter - but as sisters, who cared if they sounded like complete idiots._

* * *

Madison stared at the apartment number in front of her, 67B. Thankfully, Rebecca's old roommate had still been around, and mumbled the new dorm number before taking off. _All I have to do is pick my hand up, and knock._

It felt like a much bigger chore than it should have.

Suddenly, a scream within the apartment rang out, and Madison was kicking down the door before she could think up a plan, or do something otherwise.

There was a girl, in her polka dot bra and underwear slamming her fists against a closed door. She had long brown hair still dripping wet from a recent shower, and blood flowing freely from what looked like a bite mark on on her upper arm. Loud crying could be heard from the other side of the door.

The bleeding girl turned towards Madison dumbly, eyes glazed over and mouth dripping saliva. She moaned and at a rather quick pace, darted towards her.

Madison took up a defensive stance, and dodged the girls first attack easily - slicing the girl's arm with her was no reaction, no flinch, no recognition of pain. They circled each other, the girl growling low in her throat. Behind her, Madison saw a photo of her sister and this girl. Carly…

Although only distracted for a second, it was long enough. The girl formerly known as Carly had her tackled on the ground, knife thrown from Madison's hand. She pushed at her roughly as the girl's jaws snapped, and spit flew all over Madison's face. "I don't dig girls, and even if I did... dinner before the dirty foreplay!" Madison stated, dumbly. _Never was good with witty one liners. _As the closed door opened and the crying girl ran out, scissors in hand and screaming wildly, Madison shoved the 'jerk' off of her forcefully, and watched impressed as the jerk was impaled in the eye with aforementioned scissors.

"Guess things got too rough..." Madison mumbled and got to her feet in a rush.

"Oh my god… Oh my god…" the girl said, over and over. She quickly scooped up the overweight black cat that had run out of the room with her - he was strapped into a small dog harness and had a long leash dragging behind him. Madison would have laughed, if they hadn't been in their current situation.

"Where is my sister, Jen?" The black girls eyes snapped to her own and widened.

"They took her…" she handed the cat to Madison and ran back into the room and grabbed a bag, "They took her…"

Madison's hopes dropped and her vision clouded with a threat of tears, Jen emptied the bag onto an empty part of the floor the now dead girl wasn't occupying. She reached up and handed Madison her sister's cell phone. "I'm sorry, she wasn't even the one that text-ed you. I was. I knew you wouldn't come for me… but I don't have family and I..."

"Who took her?" Madison exploded, the cat jumped from her arms to the floor and scampered off. Madison shook Jen roughly, and she started to cry once again.

"Yesterday there were these doctors…."

* * *

The old gunny's eyes widened at the girl trailing Madison, "Let's go old man." She had blood spatter over her clothes, that obviously wasn't from a personal wound.

"Your sister?" he whispered.

"She's alive."

Gunny looked at the black girl with corn rows squeezing a fat black cat with one arm, and holding a travel litter box in the other. His eyebrows raised in question, not much of a resemblance. But heck, he'd seen stranger things in his lifetime._ Alrighty_ _then._


	4. Chapter 4

**Leyshla Gisel:** **I know it totally seems silly, her lugging around her cat. I was sitting in my room typing, and my cat kept jumping up into my lap and it got me thinking about how it would really suck if we got stuck in the zombie apocalypse together, but I couldn't imagine leaving him behind! I'm not sure how big of a role Jen will have, But I think our little harness wearing feline will be around for a while. LOL. As for Rebecca, I have a few ideas and it could really go a few different ways right now. I originally wanted the sisters to reunite early in the story…but we shall see! Thanks for reviewing! =)**

**Also, thanks to the folks following the story!**

**Daryl and Merle are the first to be introduced out of the Atlanta survivors.**

**(I don't own the Walking Dead, or anything else you may recognize.)**

* * *

_He was hungry, and his human was squeezing him too tightly. The human next to them smelled funny and kept sniffing at the air and scratching her arm. The humans up front kept arguing about his human's roommate. He meowed, and no-one listened. He turned his head towards the smelly female and meowed again. She turned towards him and blinked. Once. Twice. _

* * *

"I think the CDC is the best option we have right now. I think they might have a clue what is going on, and maybe where my sister is, Gunny." Madison turned onto a main road, ignoring a few people that was attempting to flag her down from a broken down station wagon. She flinched as in her mirror, a man stomped up and shot them point blank range. Madison swallowed hard, things we just starting to turn to shit and people were already shooting each other with no mercy.

"Pluhh." The Gunnery Sergent made a strange sound and turned on the radio, the woman in the back that had finally stopped crying grew stiff.

_"Anyone who has been bitten or scratched by one of the infected individuals must seek immediate medical attention. Avoid coming into contact with bodily fluids of an infected…"_ the channel was changed, _"Political figures throughout the east coast are urging people to stay calm and remain in their homes."_

The station was changed again, "_We have been hearing rumors of the president declaring Martial law country wide, as a strange virus that begins with symptoms similar to the flu….."_

_"All members of the armed forces…"_

Madison hit the switch to turn the radio off. "I don't think anything they have to say is going to help, Gunny."

"You can call me Trevor, girl. Seeing as we're gonna have to be the best of friends and all."

She didn't want to do names, names meant personal… getting personal meant being attached… but she said her name anyways. "Madison Gordon. "

"Gordon." Trevor nodded to the two women in the back seat. "Who are you two?"

"Jessie Burrows." the older of two spoke.

"I'm Jen Bailor, this here is Oz." she pointed to her cat, "I know it's weird… but I couldn't leave him." The cat meowed as if daring anyone to argue.

"Whatever _braids_." Gunny said chuckling to himself, Jen looked at the man incredulously but didn't say anything. He mentally laughed at himself for earlier believing this to be the sister Madison had been looking for.

"Well now that we're all acquainted…" Madison paused, they were coming into a lot of heavy traffic, "Anybody have any short cuts they wanna share?"

* * *

They had been stopped for over 40 minutes. Madison rubbed at her eyes, trying to fight off a headache. The truck next to them seemed to blare nothing but country music. Trevor seemed to know all the words to every country song ever written and sang them obnoxiously. The cat she had been suckered into letting Jen bring decided to shit in the litterbox the girl had set up in the back of the jeep early on and _smelled_. The only one that was quiet now was the tearjerker.

"FUUCK!" A loud voice screamed beside them. Jen and Jessie both jumped in surprise, and Madison's head snapped to the right so fast she thought she might have whiplash.

Two men in a pickup truck were in the lane next to them. One was bald, loud, square jawed, and looked downright mean. He was repeatedly honking the horn, and the sandy haired man next to him was muttering something under his breath and shaking his head. They both looked like locals, from what Madison could see. The guy flailing his arms around angrily was wearing a cut off flannel, a dirty, wrinkled one to be precise. The man in the passenger stuck his thumb out somewhere to the right towards what looked like an old closed maintenance road. Grouchy sounded as if he growled in response, before throwing his car in reverse and ramming the car behind him.

"What the…" Madison's jaw was slack. She looked in her rear view mirror and her eyes widened. In the distance behind them, where the 17th street bridge was located fires were started to rise, and explosions could be heard.

"Where are they going..?" Jen questioned, before also turning in her seat and seeing the mess behind them. "Holy crap..."

_"Stay in your vehicles… We are doing a car by car search! Anyone suspected of infection will be taken into custody."_ A man's voice screamed through a megaphone, he was dressed in army fatigues. Several Hummers were pulling up in the lanes that headed in the opposite direction. They were filled with fully armed soldiers.

_Damn. Damn. Damnedy Damn_. They didn't look the type to ask questions and shoot later.

Madison looked over at the old marine next to her, "I'd hold onto to your shit if I were you." Copying the move the men next to her had pulled she slammed into the vehicle behind her, in front… and took off down a small road to nowhere. She could vaguely here people screaming, as gunfire broke out behind them.

A few miles down the road, they didn't seem to be any closer to a stopping point. Maybe if they just kept driving they'd find somewhere safe. S_omewhere closer to her sister. Closer to…_ she spotted the pickup from earlier stopped not too far down the road. _To stop or not to stop__... _her thought was interupted, as she could make out what looked like someone pointing a firearm their way.

One of the back tires blew out suddenly, and the jeep began spinning out of control. Madison saw the tree, but didn't feel the impact. Everything suddenly went black, moaning from the back seat slowly faded to nothing.

* * *

Daryl Dixon watched as a jeep sped down the road behind them, he nodded towards his brother. "Looks like we got company Merle." Merle's blue eyes hardened as he pumped his shotgun, and a bullet entered the chamber. The were standing outside of their truck looking at a map just moments before, now they felt they needed to be prepared for anything.

"We'll see about that little brother." he aimed his weapon towards the jeep heading their way.

Daryl flinched slightly, as he heard the sound of a tire blowing out.

* * *

**PLEASE review if you are reading! I'm getting a lot of foot traffic through, and I'd love to hear some feedback!**

**So, Daryl and Merle. Did Merle get a shot off? Or was the blow out caused by something else? Was the moaning coming from the back seat just someone in pain? Or something...more... sinister?**

**Oh yeah, and Daryl says to please review. =]**


	5. Chapter 5

**Leyshla Giselle:**** Thanks for reviewing. I'm hoping to keep intensity up for a while, since this story is beginning at the very beginning of shit hitting the fan. Thanks for reviewing. =) **

**Guest:**** I thought it would be fun to add a small twist with having a cat around. I see people posting stuff that includes dogs all the time, but not everyone has the loyal pooch as a best friend. And how many people would leave their furry best friend behind during the zombie apocalypse? Oz the cat will prove to be more of an asset than you'd think, even if that does sound a bit out there. And we'll see if Merle shot out the tire. He might not have. I think he'd have to actually dislike someone to purposely hurt them. Thanks for reviewing =)**

**I don't own the Walking Dead, or anything else you may recognize. I was really close to killing Madison off suddenly, and shifting gears to another character completely. But I changed my mind. I might change it again, not sure.**

Merle dropped his raised weapon to his side, and let out an awkward chuckle. "Dang-it if I just meant to scare 'em." He had planned on waving the shotgun around a bit to make sure the jeep didn't stop to cause them any problems, and both parties could just mosey on their way. _He didn't picture the jeep rolling for no good reason after a tire pop._

Daryl was already jumping in the passenger seat, "Let's go help out some idjits."

Merle grinned toothily, "Well heck, somebody's got herself a hero complex, Darylina." but he jumped behind the wheel, turning the truck around to rescue said idjits.

* * *

Something dry, like sandpaper was tickling her face, right below her right eye. Hairs prickled her nostrils, and she let out a small sneeze. Slowly Madison opened her eyes. The jeep seemed to have hit a tree and smashed the drivers side towards the back, and the damn cat was standing, front paws on Madison's chest, licking her face. Dumbly, she lifted a hand and scratched the feline behind the ears, and he let out a soft mew.

Blood was matted in the cat's fur, but since he didn't seem hurt, it was probably one of theirs. Something was thrusting in the backseat, groaning loudly. Madison blinked a few times, and Trevor started to unbuckle himself slowly letting out a hiss. "My old bones can't take this shit no more." Madison tried not to make a face at the odd angle his left arm was hanging. _'At least it isn't his shooting hand.'_ she felt a split second of guilt at the selfish thought.

"Jen, Jessie… you okay?" no response, but something hit against the seat louder. Madison went to turn, but felt a sudden pain split in her thigh. She muffled a scream as she looked down to assess the damage._ I got stabbed in the leg, with my own knife. I'm officially a reh-tard._ It had seemed, in the crash her knife had come loose of her holster, and was imbedded in her right thigh. She grabbed at it, and pulled, she cursed loudly at the searing pain. The banging against the back seat intensified. The engine of a vehicle approaching the crash could be heard, vaguely.

"Shit." Trevor cursed as he looked into the backseat. "Shit." He repeated. A rather grotesque looking Jen with her neck obviously broken, was throwing herself forward, and backward against the restraint that elf her in the seat. Her left arm was completely crushed from impact, and her right arm was holding the strap of the seat belt pulling wildly. Jessie was unconscious, but bleeding heavily from a wound on her head.

"Looks like someone had a bite and didn't tell us." Her head turned at an odd angle towards him, and he could see her left ear hanging by a small piece of tendon. She let out a feral growl.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Madison unbuckled, handed the Gunny the _damned cat_ and reached into one of two bags that was still at the Gunny's feet, and pulled out a bandana tying it tightly around her wound. She tried to open her door, but to no avail. The Gunny got out his side, and gestured for Madison to follow. He dropped the cat to the ground and it sat there, cleaning itself - not a care in the world. "I have to get her.." She said, gesturing to the unconscious woman in the back. As if she understood and disagreed with the statement, the undead Jen broke free of her restraints and grabbed the closest living flesh. Jessie woke up screaming and in pain - it sounded in Madison's ears. As the remaining section of her window was smashed, someone roughly yanked her out of the drivers side window, and she realized she was also screaming.

"Shut it, woman!" A man's voice yelled, clasping a hand over her _blowhole._ She could have fought him, thrown him off balance - she was trained for that sort of thing. But the sound of a gunshot going off, and the screaming stopping shook her to the core. _An effective way to remove the hand covering her mouth would be..._

* * *

"Didja really just lick my hand?"

Daryl wiped his hand on his pants, and stared at the mess the inside of the jeep was in. A nut-so woman, an out of shape marine and a fat puss were the survivors of the crash. _Survival of the dumbest, more like. _

"Were you the bastards that shot out our tire?" she spat, pointing a finger in Merle's direction.

"Now, sugartits, I ain't did no such thing. Your tire blew out way before I could get a shot out." Merle spoke as if those words immediately cleared his name. Daryl knew his brother hadn't gotten a shot off, and hadn't really planned to, but these folks had no such knowledge.

"We didn't do shit to your car, but you can ride in the back of ours for a while if you keep quiet and don't do nothin' stupid." Daryl could tell Merle was pissed at his offer, he couldn't really care much at this point. People were monsters before this shit started going down, frankly not much had changed - and he doubted it ever would. But he couldn't leave those imbeciles on the side of the road like that, especially with the things he and his brother had recently seen...and ignored. He spat on the ground and shrugged off his thoughts, walking back towards his truck.

"Whatever. Don't bleed on my bike." He pointed to the Harley in the bed of the truck.

"Stupid sexist hillbilly pig..." Madison whispered insults under her breath, and the Gunny choked on a laugh before turning somber. His thoughts were on the two women they had just lost, especially the blue eyed one that had reminded him of his sighed for the millionth time, and they limped towards the back of the pickup.

Trevor and Madison had a rough time heaving themselves into the bed with their wounds but managed. The fat cat, Oz strutted behind them - jumping up and settling down for a nap immediately. Trevor started a makeshift sling for himself, as Madison stretched out her leg and rested her head and stared at the sky. The truck started moving, and everyone was quiet - for the time being.

* * *

**So yeah, Merle didn't shoot out the tire.**

**Also, my apologies on the southern slang - I'm a yank, and though Madison and her sister do live in the south, I imagine them to be originally from somewhere more north. Maryland or Rhode Island.**

**Please Review, it makes me happu. =)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking dead! Here is a bit of an update, sorry for the wait. PLEASE REVIEW.**

Thanks to **Leyshla Gisellen for the review. =]**

* * *

_LAST TIME:_

_Trevor and Madison had a rough time heaving themselves into the bed with their wounds but managed. The fat cat, Oz strutted behind them - jumping up and settling down for a nap immediately. Trevor started a makeshift sling for himself, as Madison stretched out her leg and rested her head and stared at the sky. The truck started moving, and everyone was quiet - for the time being_.

* * *

A few hours had passed since the group's dash from the highway. Madison towel dried her hair and sighed to herself. They had stopped at a cabin deep within the woods that the brothers Daryl and Merle used as a home base when they went hunting. The small bedroom she was sharing with Trevor had a few old photographs of an angry looking man grimacing with arms thrown around the two boys on either side of him.

The old man was already passed out on the bed, and she looked at the small cot set up a few feet away. The fat cat, Oz was laying on his back legs sticking out in all directions. She shook her head and chuckled, _if only she were a cat_. They seemed so carefree.

She made her way into the common room, where Merle was seated at an old kitchen table that had folded up paper under two of the legs to keep it from wobbling. "Where's your sidekick?" Madison asked nonchalantly. It had become obvious that Daryl would follow his big brother to the ends of the world and back.

Merle shrugged and slowly picked up pieces from his shotgun, reassembling the weapon. "Barely 10 hours into the end O' the world and yer looking for a man already?" His smile was crooked, he laughed. "Sugar, I think yer barking up the wrong tree."

"Yeah Merle. Him sewing up my leg before really got me hot. I wanted to thank him by jumping him. Immediately." His grey eyes crinkled at the side , at least he was amused with everything going on. Daryl had been the one to wordlessly sew up the gash on her thigh from where her own blade had pierced her. Sitting in front of a complete stranger in her underwear had been awkward, to say the least. But she hadn't trusted the Gunny with his shaky hands to accomplish the task - and within five seconds of meeting Merle she knew he'd be more interested in copping a feel than helping Madison out.

He threw his thumb in the direction of the front porch, and grunted. She took that as her Que to exit the room. Daryl was sitting on the top two steps of the porch, staring off into the distance. Black smoke was billowing from the direction of the main streets of Atlanta.

His eyes didn't turn towards her, but a slight nod of his head had Madison sitting next to him within moments. Sore leg stretched out in front of her. "Thanks for sewing me up." she wore one of the pairs of shorts she had in her bag she had saved from the wreckage of both bus and later, jeep. Her leg was wrapped in medical gauze, covering the zig zags of makeshift stitches.

Daryl said nothing for a few moments, "Dunno what's worse. A girl traveling with an old man, or a girl traveling with a damned cat of all things."

Madison snorted rather unladylike. "Cat's not mine, neither is the old man for that matter. He's a Jar head, though. Worse people out there." she shrugged.

"And you?" he questioned, making eye contact for a second before looking back up at the smoke.

"I've been a Marine for a whole 6 months. I was down in Florida, MOS training." she stated simply, not going into detail.

Merle's voice came from behind them through the screen door, "Semper fi, and shit. Why ain't you with the other soldiers than, defending folks from this new bio terror?"

Madison frowned, "Only one thing comes before God and country with me." She paused and stood, making her way passed Merle towards her designated bedroom. _Rebecca, where the hell are you? _"I was trying to protect that. But I guess I ain't much of a hero."_  
_

"Humph. Trying to get a girlfriend for the night Darylina?"

Daryl looked back at his brother and frowned.

* * *

_+++Two days earlier, Somewhere on the East Coast.  
_

She was tired, grouchy, and sore. She didn't know where she was, or why she was here. She had been on her way to her last class of the day,when doctors with military emblems on their lab coats had started asking students to an unused classroom on the third floor.

_"We are testing students for strains of the new virus that had been going around." the gas masks the doctors wore made them seem more menacing than trustworthy. Rebecca spotted Jennifer, her roommate across the room getting blood drawn. Rebecca frowned, and quickly sent a text to her sister - her best friend - . She'd know what was happening, she was military. These guys were military..._

**'Hey Mads, you know anything about the virus everyone is talking about?' **_she hit send, and then sat nervously, as someone drew her blood as well._

The scuffle with the doctors later in her dorm had caused her to drop her phone, so she hadn't been able to explain the situation at the college to her sister. She wished for the first time that her cellphone wasn't prepaid just for text messages. She didn't know how long she had been in this room,_ a day. Maybe two. _Who knows what's going on in the real world. She strained her ears as she thought she heard a scream outside of her prison. She buried her head under the thin blankets she was given, and faced the wall, rather than door. She blinked; once. Twice. Three times before the tears started.

* * *

**Ohhhh, looks like Rebecca may be alive, somewhere.** **And Daryl and Madison exchange a few words, at least. _  
_**


	7. Chapter 7

She heard the cat jump back in through the open window early in the morning, before she felt the tickles of whiskers on her nose. She attempted to brush the sensation away, but it returned in full force, followed by a sand paper tongue licking her upper lip. She opened her eyes and glared into the cats green ones.

He was sitting on top of her chest, looking down into her face, as if scandalized she was still in bed. She pushed him off and stretched, groaning at the dead squirrel haphazardly dropped under the window sill - the cat looking pleased with himself. She scratched him behind the ears and picked the dead animal up by its tail. She heard two male voices coming from the living room, and Merle's obnoxious laughter… laughter that she was happy to shut up, by dropping the squirrel right down onto the table in front of him. He sobered slightly and cleared his looked up at her from his place on a busted up recliner and raised a single eyebrow but said nothing.

"Rough night?" Trevor questioned, he had heard her talking in her sleep, mumbling about her sister and apologizing to someone, repeatedly.

"I need coffee." All that was in the cabin was instant, but right now she couldn't afford to be picky. If the government couldn't contain the new virus, who knows how long a luxury such as coffee would be available. She washed her hands, and poured hot water from the kettle into the Nescafe mix.

"Too right, never mess with a Marine's coffee…" Trevor took a deep gulp from his own. "Me and these fellas were discussing where we should head next.."

"I'm going back to Atlanta, and also checking the CDC." Madison interrupted simply.

"Are you a complete idiot?" Merle pulled a small silver flask out of nowhere and tipped the contents into his mug, "You saw it as well as we did. If people ain't eating each other, they are shootin' and lootin everything in sight.." He guffawed, " Jus' gonna get worse and you're ready to run straight into it."

"People just needed an excuse t-ah break laws and get rowdy." Daryl agreed quietly, "The four of us should stick together, at leas' fer a bit, and I don't think running back into hell is what we're doin.' "

"Well I don't reckon I said _we_ are going to Atlanta." Madison said, pointedly.

"Girl,that leg of yours won't get you too far by yourself, your stuck with us for now." Trevor expressed bluntly, and she grimaced. It hurt, yes, but pain is something she could endure.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body, isn't it?" She retorted, quoting a popular Marine Corps catch phrase. "I'll figure something out. I have family I need to find."

Merle groaned, "Listen girly - Ya ain't going anywhere's off on yer own fer a while, Atlanta is a dead zone. When it calms down a bit, go wherever ya want." She looked at him in wonder, she didn't think he actually cared about anything but himself, and perhaps his brother. "When the human race is dwindling' and all, we gotta make sure that the fine asses like yers stay alive." Madison couldn't help but chuckle, as Trevor and Daryl, held their mugs up in mock agreement._ Now that was sounding like the Merle she was growing to tolerate._

"Here, here." Trevor took a swig of coffee and bobbed his head up and down, _maybe Merle wasn't the only one making his morning caffeine Irish._.

Merle's grin got bigger, "You gonna do something' with that squirrel now, sweet cheeks?"

"Sure, but I don't think you'll like where I put it.."

* * *

**_*Unknown Military Medical Facility.*_**

She was running, she didn't know why one of the doctors had released her… She didn't know what his punishment would be… But she held the small knife he had given her close, and continued on, he had told her of a place she would be safe, a cabin in the woods, the light hurt her eyes as she threw the door open, but she didn't stop in her flight, she couldn't…

_****Inside Lab, Unknown Military Medical Facility****_

_Madison Eleanor Gordon, Age 24_

_Private First Class, United States Marine Corps_

_Test Scores: Alpha Class, Outstanding_

_Status: Failure to report for duty, wanted for questioning__. _

**Further information restricted.**

The doctor tried once more to bypass the security on the file, and sighed loudly.

**Further information restricted. Repeated attempts to log into this information will be investigated immediately.**

He looked around the room to make sure he was alone before picking up the phone and dialing a number written on a small crumbled piece of paper.

The phone rang once, and went straight to voicemail. The doctor frowned, and hoped he wouldn't get fired (or worse) for this. The girl he had helped escape reminded him of his daughter Addi in a way, and he stared at the picture of his smiling daughter that sat on his desk.

"Your sister is alive, I have released her from a government facility…. Do not try to call this number, stay away from anyone…." Something struck him from behind suddenly, everything went black - and he felt himself falling. He had known helping the girl would be a bad idea, but he had set in motion some things that could no longer be stopped. He thought of his wife, his daughter… his two sons who had begged him to go camping with them...

He heard people arguing loudly, before there was a gunshot and he knew no more.

* * *

_I wanted to add a little bit, change a little in this chapter... Working on brand new stuff now though!_


	8. IMPORTANT AN (also re read chapter 7!)

Hello! I am so sorry for the lack of updates on my stories the past few months… I was without a computer for a little..and then one of my close friends from highschool passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, as well as some personal drama friends… family members being ill…real life has been pretty rough and I really could find no motivation to write or do anything creative, really…I am working on a few new chapters right now, and I don't have work for the next two days so I will have some lengthy posts up within the next 48 hours! I will also read the reviews left for this story and respond at the beginning of the next chapter! Especially since Walking dead had it's mid season finale yesterday… I finally am feeling like my old self and have some writing juices flowing for the first time in a while. I am going back and reading what I already have posted… So I can really get back in the groove.

I hope this story still has people interested in what is happening next, I do plan on using the show as a guideline, but deferring from certain aspects of it!

Going to write!

Please inbox me or review to let me know you are still reading after I post the next chapter! I love hearing what you all have to say!

XOXOXOX

Sara


	9. Chapter 9

Here is a small Chapter, some other characters are going to be introduced soon!

Leyshla Gisel: Thanks :) Glad to be back.

I don't own walking dead. I also will soon have two characters owned by some awesome folks that follow the story. They will get the cred.

* * *

Madison sat on the porch with her handgun taken apart in front of her. She was rather roughly cleaning the parts, as her thoughts were becoming increasingly negative. They had been in this cabin for about a week, and though they had talked about moving on, the four couldn't agree where to go. The cabin certainly wasn't far enough from Atlanta to stay long term, but she didn't want to go too far and risk missing her sister if she were still alive and close to the city. At first they had thought perhaps whatever was going would blow over, but the new reports were now only the same things looped, and most radio stations were silent. She scrubbed harder when she thought about her lost cell phone, wondering where she had dropped it and if Rebecca had tried to contact her...

"You gotta be gentle with that thing. God damn I hope you wouldn't treat your man's pistol like that." The elder Dixon interrupted her musing, staring her down. For some reason Merle took a liking the the girl, and pestered her incessantly. Whether it be about the crush he seemed to think Daryl had on her, the annoying cat that wasn't hers, or about how her tits that were just a bit too small for how big her ass was… They had a strange friendship forming, and to her annoyance she had a soft spot for the pigheaded man.

"Shut it Dixon." Madison spat back.

"Awww come on girly. I'm just teasin' ya. I'm sure any man would put up with the kinky rough shit you'd put on em." Merle laughed raucously.

"Merle Dixon, I'm a lady." she shot him a wink and they laughed together.

The door creaked open, and Daryl stepped out onto the porch. Merle cleared his throat and grinned at his brother, "Gotta go take care of some personal business, you kids be good."

Madison swallowed her nervousness as the younger Dixon moved closer, and Merle walked over to the truck and began rifling through one of his bags. Despite her humorous conversations with Merle, she didn't know how to talk to Daryl. He was much more reserved when it came to his thoughts and opinions around her, though he seemed to have no problem arguing and speaking with his brother and Trevor.

"Your hair's down." Daryl stated randomly, and Madison subconsciously reached up to put it in a pony tail.

"I was thinking about chopping it off. Who knows how much running around we'll be doing, it'll just get in the way." They sat there awkwardly for another few moments.

"Nah, keep it the way it is…" They made eye contact for a second, before looking away. Daryl cleared his throat, "Merle and I were talking.. he and I are thinkin' about movin further away from the city. You can stay here, come with us… whatever.. We don't wanna stick to one place for long… " He paused, "Merle said the old guy would slow us down…"

Madison agreed that Trevor would slowly become more of a problem than an assistance. He had revealed he was diabetic, and only had about a months worth of insulin with him. That didn't mean she would leave him behind to fend for himself when the walkers started leaving the city and moving to the outskirts. "Well, if you guys wanna leave an old war hero by himself to die, that's on you. I'm sticking with the Gunny. I trust him a hell of a lot more than you." She didn't raise her voice, but the anger in it was obvious.

Daryl pointed a finger towards her and poked her on the shoulder, "You'd probably be dead in that wreck if it weren't for us. Forget what I said about comin with us if ya want. I don't need some bitch that needs savin at every turn.."

Her jaw dropped and her hands balled into fists, but the sound of a misfiring engine in the distance interrupted their argument. Both turned and cursed at the sight of an old RV slowly moving down the words towards him. "We are not done with this…" Madison mumbled, putting her handgun back together quickly. _So not done._


End file.
